69th murderer executed in U.S. in 2000
667th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
33rd murderer executed in Texas in 2000
232nd murderer executed in Texas since 1976
(Race/Sex/Age at Murder-Execution) |
Birth |
(Race/Sex/Age at Murder) |
Murder |
Murder |
to Murderer |
Sentence |
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|
Rickey Nolen McGinn W / M / 36 - 43 |
Stephanie Flanary W / F / 12 |
06-09-95 | ||||||||
Summary:
Ricky McGinn was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of his 12-year-old step-daughter, Stephanie Rae Flanary. On the morning of May 22, 1993, Janet McGinn, Ricky Nolen McGinn's wife, left her home in Brownwood, Texas for a trip to Arlington. She left her 12-year-old daughter, Stephanie Flanary, in the care of McGinn. McGinn and Stephanie spent the day alone together. Stephanie was sexually assaulted by McGinn and then beaten in the head with the blunt side of an ax. She died of multiple head injuries and a fractured skull. Her battered body was found three days later in a culvert along a farm-to-market road near McGinn's residence in Brown County. McGinn was granted a last-minute 30 day reprieve by Governor Bush to obtain DNA testing. Unfortunately for McGinn, the results of the DNA tests only confirmed his guilt.
Citations:
Internet Sources:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Ricky Nolen McGinn)
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Wednesday, September 6, 2000 - MEDIA ADVISORY - Ricky Nolen McGinn scheduled for execution
AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Ricky Nolen McGinn who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on September 27th. Ricky McGinn was convicted and sentenced to death for the May 1993 murder of his 12 year-old stepdaughter Stephanie Flanary.
Police found Stephanie's body three days after Stephanie's mother left Stephanie with McGinn while she traveled to Arlington. Stephanie's body was found about three miles from the McGinn home in a culvert off Highway 183 in Brownwood, Texas. Stephanie had been raped and beaten in the head with the blunt end of an ax.
McGinn told police that he spent the day working on his truck and fishing. McGinn said he and Stephanie fished and drank beer together, enough to make Stephanie sick. McGinn claims that Stephanie fell asleep after drinking, woke up and went on a walk, and never returned. McGinn said that after he realized Stephanie was missing late that afternoon, he told a friend of his, but McGinn did not call the police about Stephanie's disappearance until 9:30 that night. The next day police, with trained search dogs, searched McGinn's car. Police discovered numerous blood splatters in McGinn's car, which he maintained were from the fish he caught. However, testing identified the blood as human. The blood splatters matched Stephanie's blood type, as did blood from clothes McGinn had been wearing.
McGinn was subsequently arrested. The suspected murder weapon (an ax) was later found in a pickup truck on McGinn's property.
EVIDENCE
Blood splatters found in McGinn's car, matched Stephanie's blood type; Hair sticking to a blood stain in the car had the same microscopic characteristics as Stephanie's; DNA tests performed by DPS on blood from an ax found under the seat of McGinn's truck, matched the blood on the ax to Stephanie's blood type; Tests performed by DPS on hair found on the ax determined the hair had the same microscopic characteristics as Stephanie's hair; Blood stains found on McGinn's jeans matched Stephanie's blood type; Post-conviction DNA testing by prosecution and defense experts, matched sperm and pubic hairs found on Stephanie's body to McGinn.
APPEALS TIME-LINE
Jan. 21, 1998 - Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed McGinn's conviction and death sentence.
July 8, 1998 - Court of Criminal Appeals denied McGinn habeas corpus relief.
Nov. 2, 1998 - McGinn's petition for writ of certiorari was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Jan. 20, 1999 - District Court denied habeas relief.
Oct. 22, 1999 - 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied permission to appeal.
Nov. 2, 1999 - McGinn filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court which was denied on Feb. 22, 2000. McGinn also filed a second state application for habeas relief which was dismissed by the Court of Criminal Appeals on Mar. 29, 2000.
June 1, 2000 - McGinn was scheduled to be executed, but received a reprieve from the Governor's office so additional DNA tests could be conducted.
Aug. 15, 2000 - DNA test results are released and confirm that McGinn is the person who raped and murdered 12 year-old Stephanie Flanary. New execution date of Sept. 27, 2000 is set.
CRIMINAL HISTORY
Evidence was introduced at trial that on Aug. 1, 1986, McGinn threatened Pamela Adams with a knife and forced her into sexual acts with him. Evidence was also introduced at trial that in April of 1985, McGinn assaulted Sonya Vaughn, a sophomore at Abilene Christian University, when she refused to have sex with McGinn. Latasha McGinn, McGinn's biological daughter, testified that McGinn sexually assaulted her in 1987, when she was three or four years old. McGinn threatened to kill his daughter and her mother if Latasha McGinn told anyone about the incident. A couple of years later, when Latasha's mother, Imogene Bible, tried to prevent McGinn from visiting her daughter alone, McGinn threatened to beat Bible to death.
McGinn is currently the lead suspect in two other rape/murders that pre-date this capital murder and authorities hope that DNA testing will also help confirm McGinn's guilt in those cases, for which he has never been tried.
Ricky McGinn was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of his 12-year-old step-daughter, Stephanie Rae Flanary. On the morning of May 22, 1993, Janet McGinn, Ricky Nolen McGinn's wife, left her home in Brownwood, Texas for a trip to Arlington. She left her 12-year-old daughter, Stephanie Flanary, in the care of McGinn. McGinn and Stephanie spent the day alone together. Stephanie was sexually assaulted by McGinn and then beaten in the head with the blunt side of an ax. She died of multiple head injuries and a fractured skull. Her battered body was found three days later in a culvert along a farm-to-market road near McGinn's residence in Brown County. Investigators found blood in the trunk of McGinn's car and a bloody ax under the seat of a broken truck in his yard.
Texas Execution Information Center
Ricky Nolen McGinn, 43, was executed by lethal injection on 27 September in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of his stepdaughter.In May 1993, McGinn's wife left her 12-year-old daughter, Stephanie Rae Flanary, in his care for the day. According to McGinn, then 36, they drank beer together and dozed off. After she woke up, she went for a nighttime walk and never returned. McGinn said he looked for her and then called the police. The following day, police found blood splatters and hair around the back of McGinn's car, a blood stain on the back of the driver's seat, and more blood on McGinn's clothing and shoes. Under the seat of a broken truck in McGinn's yard, officers found a bloody axe. Two days later, Flanary's body was found dumped in a culvert. She had been raped and beaten and had a fractured skull. She died of multiple head injuries. According to DNA tests, the blood from the axe matched Flanary. DNA tests also showed that semen and pubic hair taken from Flanary's body and underwear matched McGinn. A jury, who also heard three other females testify that McGinn had sexually assaulted them, convicted McGinn of capital murder and gave him the death sentence. Afterward, McGinn was connected to the 1992 rape-murder of 19-year-old Christi Jo Eggers. DNA testing showed that semen found in her body matched McGinn, but McGinn was not tried for Eggers' killing because he was already on death row. In addition, Brown County officials suspected McGinn in the rape-murder of 12-year-old Sherri Newman.
McGinn had two prior execution dates in the year 2000. At the most recent one on 1 June, his final appeals had failed and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied his request for a reprieve. He had eaten his last meal and was about 18 minutes away from going to the death chamber when Governor George W. Bush granted an emergency stay of execution at the request of the state district judge who was presiding over McGinn's case. It was the first -- and so far, only -- time Bush has granted such a stay in 143 execution cases.
The reason for the stay was so that DNA evidence from the trial could be reexamined. McGinn's lawyers contended that DNA testing methods had advanced so much while McGinn was on death row that the evidence from the rape should be retested using current technology. If it could not be proven that McGinn raped Flanary, then the crime did not meet the legal definition of capital murder and his death sentence would have to be removed. When the DNA tests came back, they showed that semen and pubic hair found on the victim positively matched McGinn. Despite the test results, McGinn maintained his innocence. He said, "it kind of blew me out of the water" that the DNA test was positive. "I had my stuff ready to be packed to go home," he said in a death-row interview. (McGinn would not have been able to go home if the test had been negative.) "I still want the world to know I'm not guilty. I don't care what the tests show. ... I didn't kill my little girl. I did not have sex with her, I did not rape her. I want the world to know that." Of the evidence that prove he raped his stepdaughter, he said "somebody else put that there."
Janet McGinn, the prisoner's ex-wife and victim's mother, believed in Ricky McGinn's guilt and supported his execution. At his execution, McGinn said nothing about the crime, the evidence, or his guilt or innocence. He expressed love for his family and his belief in Heaven. As the drugs began taking effect, he sputtered and groaned slightly. He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m.
Rapist-Murderer Put to Death
HUNTSVILLE (AP) - Condemned killer Ricky McGinn, spared earlier this year in an unprecedented reprieve by Gov. George. W. Bush, was executed Wednesday for raping and fatally bludgeoning his 12-year-old stepdaughter.
McGinn, 43, insisted he was innocent of the 1993 killing of Stephanie Flanary and said additional DNA tests on hair and semen evidence would prove his case. Only minutes from execution June 1, McGinn won a 30-day reprieve from Bush so new tests could be conducted.
In a final statement, McGinn said, "Tell everybody I said hi, that I love them, and I will see them on the other side, OK? And now I just pray that if there is anything against me that God takes it home. I don't want nobody to be mad at nobody. I don't want nobody to be bitter. Keep clean hearts and I will see y'all on the other side." He smiled to his family, many of whom were sobbing, and then sputtered as the drugs began taking effect. There was no reaction from family members of the victim. McGinn groaned slightly and then his eyes closed. He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. CDT, eight minutes after the lethal drugs began taking effect.
The new DNA tests vindicated Brown County authorities who said McGinn killed his stepdaughter May 22, 1993, and dumped her body in a culvert where it was found three days later.
"Convicted Killer to Face Injection," by Michael Graczyk. (Associated Press)
HUNTSVILLE - Convicted killer Ricky McGinn was 10 minutes and about 10 steps from the Texas death chamber when the warden walked up and looked through the bars of his small cell. McGinn had changed his clothes, prayed with the prison chaplain and eaten his final meal - a double cheeseburger, fries and Dr Pepper. "I thought: It's time," McGinn recalled.
But the warden had good news. Gov. George W. Bush had given him temporary reprieve, the first time Bush used his authority as governor to stop an execution for 30 days. McGinn's supporters had requested the June 1 execution be put off until new DNA testing was conducted on evidence in his murder case. Rather than proving McGinn's innocence, the new methods solidified his guilt.